Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a lot of buildup of stainless steel appliance cleaner. My frig doors are all smudged with build up. If I use the stainless cleaning pads I bought at the store, it looks good for a few hours, then it gets even more smudged with build up. Can anyone help me? I'm at my wits end!
By julie from Medford, NJ
Use a solution of warm water, vinegar, a few drops of plain dish soap. (no soap with added oils & lotions). Use a soft, lint free cloth to rinse all the grime & buildup off. Once you manage to get all the grime off I recommend one of two products. The easiest is a window cleaner called SprayAway. Simply spray on and buff off with a clean lint free cloth. I regularly use this method at my clients' houses on their stainless steel appliances & it is amazing. No residue or streaks and it leaves a great shine. The other product I would suggest is Wright's Silver Polishing Cream. A little goes a long way, but your steel will blind you when all is said and done! :)
I don't recommend using most of the SS wipes and cleaners that have become so abundant these days. Most simply create a build up like the situation you have now. Hope this helps!
Use eazy off oven cleaner on stainless steel. All grease will lift off.
We recently had a house fire and my stainless steel dishwasher has a dull, film on it. The cleaning people used industrial cleaner and stainless steel cleaner and it's still dull with no shine.
I have reclined it myself to no avail. What can I do?What is the best way to clean around burners on a stainless gas range?
By Carol
You can use vinegar solution for it. Just take normal hot water and mix 1/4 vinegar solution in it than pour it on dirt place and wipe with soft cloth.
I work for a cleaning company and we use Elco stainless steel cleaner. A lot of our stainless steel fridges, dishwashers, and ovens are getting a greasy (sticky like) buildup. When we try to buff out smudges, it only gets worse. We do not know what to do? We need help getting the residue buildup off and then what would be good to use? Please help.
By Cricket
A good grease remover is Lestoil (good luck, finding that in your grocery store nowadays). Another is ammonia. If you can get commercial grade it is more cost effective and it lasts much longer because it is so strong. Be careful with it; the fumes are overwhelming, and you should dilute it. Be sure the windows are open while you use it. And wear protective gloves, with either of these.
Also, don't use synthetic cloth to clean the stainless steel with either of these products. Use only clean cotton material that has NOT been rinsed with fabric softener. Or use paper towels (but that is so UN-Thrifty).
Your stainless steel will gleam after a wash down with either of these.
I have dark discoloration stains from spills around my burners on my stove. Can anyone tell me what to use to remove them?
By Beverly
1. Spray on discoloration surface with Vinegar, then sprinkle Baking Soda onto wet surface. A chemical re-action will occur.
A harsh cleaner was used on some stainless steel appliances. It looks like it stripped away the surface. I am not sure if it was a clearcoat of some type. Please help! How can I restore the luster and shine to the front of the appliances?
By Kim from Sacramento, CA
My mother splashed Drano on her stainless steel coffee maker and it has left a terrible stain. I don't think that this can be polished off. What was the harsh cleaner that was used on your appliances?
I have dishwasher liquid stains on a stainless steel stove top. How can I remove them?
By Carol D from Muscat, Oman
The gel dishwasher soap has made marks on the stainless steel front panel. How can I get the marks out?
By Bonnie from Valparaiso, IN
Vinegar is very effective in removing hard water stains on stainless steel. This is a page about cleaning stainless steel with vinegar.
Stainless steel toasters can easily get stains and fingerprints on them. This is a page about cleaning a stainless steel toaster.
While durable, stainless steel does have the disadvantage of showing water marks. This is a page about removing water marks from stainless steel dishwasher front.
This page contains the following solutions.
To clean stainless steel appliances use an after-shower spray, which are basically highly softened water. Spray and wipe with microfiber cloth or paper towels. No streaking!
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
Just when your kitchen's stainless steel appliances seem doomed to be forever smudged and streaked, here comes Mr Stainless Shine to the rescue.
What is the best way to clean stainless steel appliances?
We bought a stainless steel refrigerator with French doors about 8 months ago. It was expensive and is beautiful.
Need to know how to clean stainless steel fronts of kitchen appliances. I know to go with the grain, but what do I use?
We have recently moved to a home that has stainless steel appliances and I have a hard time keeping them free of fingermarks, etc.
